Local vaccine production doable by end-2022, says DOST exec

The Philippines will possibly have its own fill-finish facilities for vaccine manufacturing by 2022, an official from the Department of Science and Technology said Thursday.

DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said two out of the six local firms that are in talks with the government for vaccine manufacturing are moving forward with their plans “quickly and aggressively.”

“If they pursue what we think are their plans based on what they have told us, parang kakayanin nilang mag-umpisang mag-produce ng vaccine by late 2022 (it looks like they can start producing vaccines by late 2022),” she said in a health department briefing.

“‘Pag tuloy tuloy ‘yung ganito sila kaagresibo, based on our talks with them, kakayanin nila by end of 2022 mag-uumpisa sila" (If they continue being aggressive, based on our talks with them, they can manage to start by end of 2022),” she added.

Guevara explained that a fill and finish or fill-finish facility will receive antigen in bulk, which will then be placed inside ampoules, vials, or injectables.

She said fill-finish facilities can be completed in “less than two years.”

On the other hand, it will take a minimum of three years for a local company partnered with a foreign manufacturer to establish a full-fledged vaccine manufacturing facility.

Guevara stressed that the country needs to develop its own vaccine manufacturing capability to sustain the national immunization program, prepare for the possibility of annual COVID-19 vaccination, and “to be prepared in time for the next pandemic.”

Some 1.09 million Filipinos have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of April 13. 

‘Catalyze local vaccine manufacturing’

Guevara said the DOST and the Health, Budget, and Trade departments met with vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. last week to discuss efforts for local vaccine production.

They agreed to support the priority certification of a bill seeking to establish a Philippine virology institute, accelerate arrangements for vaccine manufacturing, and back a policy for “government procurement to catalyze local vaccine manufacturing.” 

The DOST official added that the government's short- to long-term goals include procuring and participating in clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and mounting the vaccine self-reliance project of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. 

“In all plans that we have seen, what we need is an enabling environment that will help this emerging industry to flourish,” Guevara said. —LBG, GMA News